The Reformation and Religious Wars PPT

The Reformation and Religious Wars TheReformation It was the significant development that convulsed Christendom in the 16th century and was the beginning of modern history. It was a two-sided affair. On the one hand, It was Protestant R...

The Reformation and Religious Wars TheReformation It was the significant development that convulsed Christendom in the 16th century and was the beginning of modern history. It was a two-sided affair. On the one hand, It was Protestant Reformation or religious revolt against the Vatican, led by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other religious reformers, and resulted in the rise of various Protestant sects. On the other hand, It was Catholic Church Reformation because it brought about reforms within the Catholic Church which improved the Catholic faith. The Decline of Papacy Leo III- After his pontificate the papacy began to decline rapidly as the result of the following: The removal of papal seat from Rome (italy) to Avignon (France), where it remained for nearly 70 years (1309-1376). The “Great Schism” (1378-1417). The rise of strong national states which defied the authority of the popes. The intellectual revolution sparked by the Renaissance. Four men prepared the way for the Religious Revolution John Wycliffe of England -Professor at Oxford University, advocated the sale of all church properties, the living of the simple life for the clergy, and the use of the Bible as the sole guide to man’s salvation Four men prepared the way for the Religious Revolution John Huss of Bohemia -translated the Latin Bible into English, preached the ideas of Wycliffe in his country, and he was ordered to recant (give up his ideas) by the Church Council of Constance (1414) but he refused. He was condemned a heretic and burned at the stake. Savonarola of Italy -He boldly denounced the corruption of society and the luxury of clergy and nobles, drove away the ruling of Medici Family and established the Republic of Florence Bonfires of Vanities- It is where fine garments, Jewelry and works of art burned publicly Erasmus of Rotterdam -great Dutch humanist, advocated in his Praise of Folly the need for reforming the evil ways of the clergy  Martin Luther (1483-1546), (Father of the Protestant Revolt ) a German Augustinian monk. The son of a poor miner, Luther was born in Eisleben, Germany, on November 10, 1483. Despite his family's meager income, he was given a good education at the University of Erfurt, He became an Augustinian monk and, later, a professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg.  Between 1514 and 1518, he was spiri- tually troubled about salvation. He began to doubt the Church's teachings. One day he read the Bible's teaching on salvation, "For in it (in Christ) is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17) This revealed to him that man is saved by accepting and trusting Jesus alone and not by  Luther's Break from Rome. The manner in which John Tetzel, a Dominican friar, was selling indulgences to raise funds for Rome aroused Luther's indignation. Indulgences- indulgence is salvation for a soul in purgatory or an exemption from church rules. It is granted by the Church in exchange for a pious deed or a sum of  Luther posted his famous “Ninety-five Theses” on the door of the church in Wittenberg, attacking the selling of indulgences. This was his public declaration of war against Rome. He challenged anyone to a debate on the validity of the indulgences. Tetzel did not reply, but he sent a report of Luther's theses to Pope Leo X Meanwhile, Luther became highly popular with German princes and com- moners because he championed the idea of free salvation for  Luther's Appeal to the German People. Alarmed by the rising popularity of Luther, Pope Leo X issued a bull in June 1520, ordering him to recant his anti- Catholic ideas or be excommunicated. In reply to the papal threat, Luther bumed the copy of the bull before a large crowd in Wittenberg. In August 1520, Luther issued his pamphlet entitled Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, in which he urged the German rulers to reform the defects of the Church and stop all payments to Rome. He further advocated the abolition of all religious orders and the granting to the clergy of the right to marry. In a second pamphlet, The Babylonian Captivity of the Christian Church, published in the same month, Luther tried to destroy the sacramental systems of the Catholic Church. He repudiated the sacraments of marriage, confirmation, ordination, and extreme function, and accepted only three sacraments, namely, baptism, communion, and confession. Luther's Defiance of the Pope and Emperor. On January 3, 1521, Pope Leo X issued a bull excommunicating Luther. Emperor Charles V, a devout Catholic, faced the serious task of enforcing it. He summoned Luther to appear before the Diet of Worms, On April 17, Luther, under an imperial pledge of safe conduct and Emperor Charles V offered Luther a last chance to recant his teachings, but the latter refused. Consequently, Luther was proclaimed a heretic and an outlaw. He was, however, permitted to leave Worms because of the safe conduct. On his way to Wittenberg, he was "kidnapped" by some friendly knights and taken secretly to Wartburg Castle which was owned by his protector and friend, Frederick the Wise, Elector of For a year (1521-22), Luther lived safely at Wartburg Castle. During this period he translated the Bible into Ger-man. The appearance of this sacred book in a language understood by the masses enhanced his popularity. In 1522 he returned to Wittenberg, where he laid the foundations of the Lutheran Church. Thr Peasant War The poor peasants in South Germany took advantage of Luther's religious revolt by rising in arms in 1524 against their feudal lords. Incited by certain religious fanatics, they plundered the castles and monaster-ies, killed their landlords, and committed many atrocities.  Luther, however, had no sympathy with the peasants' bloody revolt. He had nio intention of sponsoring economic re-forms. The revolt was finally suppressed in 1525 by the feudal lords. A large part of South Germany was devastated, and 50,000 lives were lost. Luther was blamed for the terrible catastrophe because it was his teachings that has inspired the peasants to rise against the land-holding nobles and bishops. Consequently, the Lutheran cause was discredited in South Germany, where Catholicism remained strong.  Origin of the term “Protestant Despite the loss of Luther's prestige in South Germany, his religious movement made rapid progress. In 1529 the Second Diet of Spires met. The majority of the members in this Diet, consisting of Catholic German princes and representatives of free cities of South Germany, banned Luther's doctrines. The minority group, composed of six German princes and representatives of the cities of North Ger-many, protested the action of the Dict. Because of this  Philip Melanchthon, a German humanist and friend of Luther, wrote the creed of Lutheran teachings which he submitted to the Diet of Augsburg in 1530. The Diet rejected it, but it became the accepted credo of the Lutheran Church. It was known as the Augsburg Confession.  Spread of the Protestant Movement From Germany, the Protestant movement spread to other countries. In Switzerland, Ulrich Zwingli (1484- 1531), a Catholic priest, led the first attack against Rome in 1523. He preached against the veneration of saints, repudiated the authority of the pope, and proclaimed the Bible as the only guide for man's salvation. The Swiss cantons were split on the question of religion, and civil war broke out. In 1531 Zwingli headed the Swiss Protestant forces which attacked the Catholic cantons. He was killed in battle. Zwingli's death left Swiss Protestantism without a leader, but not for long. In 1636 a French lawyer, John Calvin (1509-04), fleeing from religious persecution in France, settled in Geneva, where he became a political and religious dictator. Under his strict rule, Geneva became a Puritan commonwealth. All festivals were abolished, all theaters were closed, and the people lived a simple, disciplined life. In 1536 Calvin published his book The Institute of the Christian Religion, which summarized the Protestant beliefs. The unique feature of Calvin's teachings was his belief in predestination. According to him, God has already determined the fate of men before they are bom. Thus, each person before his birth has been predestined to live either within or outside the grace of God. Calvin introduced the principle of democracy in church organization. Calvinist clergymen, called ministers, were clected by the menbers of the congrega-tion. The lay officers, called presbyters (elders), were also elected by the congregation members. John Knox, a Scottish disciple of Calvin in Geneva, carried Calvinism to Scotland, where it came to be known as Presbyterianism. It spread to England, where it was known as Puritanism. John Huss propagated Calvinism in Bohemia. The Protestant Revolt Protestantism in England England's Protestant movement was peculiar in that it broke away from the Catholic Church before adopting any Protestant beliefs. The polygamous King Henry VIII (1509-47) was a loyal Catholic before he became infatuated with.Anne Boleyn. In 1520 he wrote a defense of Catholicism against the Lutherans, for which the Pope conferred upon him the title "Defender of the Later, when the Pope refused to annul his marriage to his first wife (Catherine of Aragon, aunt of Emperor Charles V) so he could marry Anne Boleyn, King Henry became angry. He divorced Queen Catherine, married Anne Boleyn, and induced the Parliament to pass the Act of Supremacy (1534), which declared the king as the supreme head of the Church of England. All subjects were required to take the oath acknowledging the supremacy of the king in religious affairs. Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), a famous humanist and Lord Chancellor of England, refused to take the oath. Because of this, he was England really became Protestant during the long reign of Elizabeth I (1558- 1603), daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. The Anglican Church took on a form different from that of Catholicism, Lutheranism, or Calvinism. The "Thirty-Nine Articles," written by a group of English bishops in 1563, became the creed of the Anglican Church. The Catholic Reformation The success of the Protestant Revolt jolted the papacy to action. To meet the challenge of Protestantism, a vigorous movement arose-within the Catholic Church to improve the Catholic faith. This movement was called the Catholic Reformation, or Counter-Rcformation. It was carrie on by the Council of Trent, the Inquisition, the Society of Jesus, and the Catholic missionaries. The Council of Trent (1545-63). Pope Paul III (1534-49) began the Catholic Reformation by calling the Council of Trent, which met at irregular intervals from 1545 to 1563. Among the achievements of this famous Church council were the following:  1.It recognized the pope as the infallible head of the Catholic Church. 2. It condemned the Protestant claim that the Bible is the only guide to man's salvation. 3. It reaffirmed the validity of the Mass, the Seven Sacraments, the veneration of saints, and other Catholic dogmas. 4. It prescribed high standards of conduct for the clergy. 5. It authorized the pope to publish an Index, a list of books which Catholics were forbidden to read. The Bible used to be included in this Index.  1.It recognized the pope as the infallible head of the Catholic Church. 2. It condemned the Protestant claim that the Bible is the only guide to man's salvation. 3. It reaffirmed the validity of the Mass, the Seven Sacraments, the veneration of saints, and other Catholic dogmas. 4. It prescribed high standards of conduct for the clergy. 5. It authorized the pope to publish an Index, a list of books which Catholics were forbidden to read. The Bible used to be included in this Index. The Inquisition. The Catholic Church, after having defined its doctrines and corrected its defects, now demanded obedience from all men. The Inquisition was reactivated to suppress cresy in Calholic countries. The Inquisition committed many atrocious acts, such as the burning of numerous victims at the stake. The Protestants were equally guilty of inflicting death and torture on those who refused to agree with them. Without doubt, the Inquisition checked the advance of the Protestant movement in Southem Europe. It particularly wiped out Protestantism in Spain and Italy.  The Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus played a great role in the Catholic Reformation. Its founder, Ignatius Loyola was, a Spanish soldier of fortune, the son of a noble family and a former page of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel of Spain. In 1521, while recovering from a wound sustained during the battle against the French, he read books on the life of Christ and the saints. Deeply impressed by these books, he renounced his rough military life and dedicated himself to the service of God. To improve his mind, he studied philosophy and theology at the universities of Alcala, Salamanca, and Paris. He gathered a small group of valiant and talented men (including St. Francis Xavier) and organized the Society of Jesus The organization of the Society of Jesus showed the military spirit of its founder. Instead of the three monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, they took only the vow of obedience to the pope. The members, called Jesuits, were militant crusaders of the Church. They were men of proven courage, strength of character, and high intellect. By their brilliant preachings and gallant endeavors, the Jesuits were able to recover Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, and other countries for the Catholic Church. As a mighty force of Catholicism in Western Europe, they established schools and colleges which became famous centers of Catholic learning. They also exerted great influence in European politics by acting as advisers and father confessors to kings and queens. They won high honors for the Church by their achievements in  Differences Between Catholics and Protestants. 1. Catholics are united into one organization under one supreme head - the pope in the Vatican, Protestants, on the other hand, are split into numerous sects, such as Anglicans, Congregationalists, Lutherans, Calvinists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, etc., each independent of the other. 2. The Catholic Church is universal. Catholics in all parts of the world have the same religious services, similar hierarchy, and identical beliefs. The Protestant sects are national in character, with different organizations and variations in certain doctrinal teachings.  3. Catholics do not allow their clergy to marry. Protestant pastors or ministers can marry and rear families. 4. Catholics accept the papal authority, the monastic system, the veneration of relics and saints, and the Seven Sacraments. Protestants do not accept them. 5. Catholics believe in the importance of faith and good works, prayers, and church Sacraments in earning salvation. Protestants regard faith in Christ as man's sole guide to salvation. Results of the Reformation The Reformation brought about the following results: 1. It destroyed the religious unity of Wester Europe, which came to be divided into Catholic Europe and Protestant Europe. 2. It gave rise to numerous religious groups such as the Lutherans, Calvinists, Methodists,  1. It introduced reforms in the Catholic Church, such as (a) the prohibition of the clergy to marry, (b) the abolition of simony, which refers to the buying and selling of church offices, and (c) the banning of investiture, which was the old practice of the monarchs or lay rulers to induct the priests to their ecclesiastical offices. 2. It ignited the religious wars which ravaged Europe for almost one century (1547-1648), the period which bistorians called the "Age of Religious Wars." 3. It started a spiritual revival in Christianity, the spread of the Bible, and the biblical doctrine of salvation by faith in Christ alone, apart from religious sacraments and good works. Man could now be saved, not by. joining a church, but by accepting and trusting Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.  The Religious War 1. The Schmalkaldic War (1547-55). This was a war between the Catholic League, headed by Archduke Ferdinand of Austria (younger brother of Emperor Charles V), and the Schmalkaldic League, composed of German Lutheran princes. It was ended by the Treaty of Augsburg (1555), which permitted Lutheran Protestantism to exist in Germany. 2. The Huguenot Wars (1562-98). These were a series of wars fought by the Huguenots (French Calvinists) against their Catholic monarchs, Kings Francis 11, Charles IX, and Henry III, and their fanatical Catholic mother, Quen Catherine de Medici. The conflict was ended by the ascension of King Henry IV to the French throne in 1598, for he granted the Huguenots freedom of religious worship. 3. War of the Protestant Dutch against their Catholic ruler, King Philip II of Spain (1566-1609). This is better known in history as the War of Dutch Independence. It was ended by the Truce of 1609, in which Spain withdrew her sovereignty from the Netherlands. With that the Dutch won their independence and the right to become Protestants.  4. War of King Philip II of Spain against Anglican England (1588). As a champion of Catholic Christianity, King Philip desired to conquer Protestant England. He lost the war because the invading Spanish armada, called the "Invincible Armada," was destroyed by the English fleet at the English Channel in June 1588. Because of this decisive naval victory, England became the "Mistress of the THE REFORMATION AND RELIGIOUS WARS 163 Seas" and an 5. The Thirty Years' War (1618-48). This was a long struggle between the Catholics and the Protestants for supremacy in Germany. Two Catholic powers (Spain and France) and two Protestant powers (Denmark and Sweden) intervened in this religious conflict. The war was finally ended by the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), which recognized the equality of the Catholic and Protestant religions. Significantly, this treaty ended the religious wars in Western Europe.